The Al Farouq training camp, also called ''Jihad Wel al-Farouq'',
was a
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
and
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...
near
Kandahar
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...
. Camp attendees received small-arms training, map-reading, orientation, explosives training, and other training. Nasir al-Bahri reported that the camp was only established following the arrival of
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...
and
Egyptian Islamic Group
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...
militants who had suitable expertise as to provide training to others.
The United States
attacked the area with
cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...
s on August 20, 1998, in retaliation for the
1998 embassy bombings
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam ...
.
[Testimony of ]Abdurahman Khadr
Abdurahman Ahmed Said Khadr ( ar, عبد الرحمن أحمد سعيد خضر, ; born 1982) is a Canadian citizen who was held as an enemy combatant in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, after ...
as a witness in the trial against Charkaoui, July 13, 2004Michelle Shephard
Michelle Shephard (born 1972) is an independent investigative reporter (previously with the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper), author and filmmaker.
She has been awarded the Michener Award for public service journalism and won Canada's top newspaper pri ...
, ''Guantanamo's Child'', 2008. It continued to operate until August 2001, when it was shut down by its trainers.
[Temple-Raston, Dina. ''The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror, 2007] The camp was bombed again on October 10, 2001.
According to
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
intelligence analysts
Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of deliberate ...
, the director of the Al Farouq camp was a
Saudi named
Abdul Quduz
Abdul (also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word ''Abd (Arabic), Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and th ...
, who was later one of the commanders at the
battle of Tora Bora
The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from December 6–17, 2001, during the opening stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was launched by th ...
.
Abu Walid al Masri
Mustafa Hamid ( ar, مصطفى حامد; born March 1945 in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt), also known as Abu Walid al-Masri ( ar, أبو وليد المصري) and Hashim al-Makki ( ar, هاشم المكّي), is a journalist who in the 1980s fou ...
(b. 1945), one of the
Afghan Arabs
Afghan Arabs (also known as Arab-Afghans) are Arab and other Muslim Islamist mujahideen who came to Afghanistan during and following the Soviet–Afghan War to help fellow Muslims fight Soviets and pro-Soviet Afghans.
Estimates of the volun ...
who fought as volunteers in the 1980s against the Soviet Union, had stayed in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal. During the mid-1990s, at the age of about 50, he served as a senior trainer at the camp.
['']The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
,'
"Interview with a Taliban Insider: Iran's Game in Afghanistan"
November 14, 2011 In this period, various ethnic factions in Afghanistan were competing for power, with the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
soon to emerge in control.
Saif al-Adel
Saif al-Adel ( ar, سيف العدل; born April 11, 1960/63) is a former Egyptian colonel, explosives expert, and a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda who is still at large. Adel is under indictment by the United States[Asim al-Yamani Asim or ASIM may refer to:
* Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, a fantasy and science fiction magazine
* Aseem, a male given name of Indian origin, often spelled ''Asim''
* Asem, a male given name of Arabic origin, some ...]
was also a trainer at the camp.
World News Connection World News Connection was a compilation of current international news translated into the English language. The United States Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service compiled and distributed it from non-U.S. media sources, usua ...
"Al-Qa'ida member recalls US bombardment, accuses Taliban of betrayal"
, October 29, 2003
Individuals alleged to have attended the Al Farouq training camp
References
{{TrainingCamp
Al-Qaeda facilities
*